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The Practice of Interdisciplinarity: Complex Conditions and the Potential of Interdisciplinary Theory


By Jack Meek
University of La Verne
Department of Public Administration

Abstract: This article illustrates the formulation of interdisciplinary process presented in Bill Newell’s article, “A Theory of Interdisciplinary Studies,” by examining a “self-organized” community effort. This effort shows the power of interdisciplinary process, whether consciously or unconsciously applied, in a social setting. It also guides our understanding of the potential strengths and limits of the interdisciplinary process, especially in complex social systems.

Introduction
Y COLLEAGUE, WILLIAM NEWELL (2001), in his article, “A Theory of Interdisciplinary Studies,” has described the interdisciplinary process as a specific series of steps designed to allow the creation of new outcomes and insights that could not otherwise be achieved. The interdisciplinary process holds enormous potential for application in a variety of settings, including the analysis of social issues and the derivation of new solutions to those issues. This potential to derive new solutions is especially true of interdisciplinary methods as applied to social problems. This article attempts to illustrate how interdisciplinary processes lead to creative solution making that is collective, participatory, engaging, and inclusive in a complex environment. We suggest that without the use of an interdisciplinary protocol, like the one suggested by Newell, solution making such as that exemplified here would be unlikely to have the above characteristics in the same degree. Newell (2001) has also argued the centrality of complexity to the interdisciplinary process. This article will examine that argument as it applies to the application of interdisciplinary protocols in ISSUES IN INTEGRATIVE STUDIES No. 19, pp. 123-136 (2001) M social settings. Such application is what Julie Klein refers to as “deciding about future management or disposition of the task” (Newell, 2001, p. 14) or what William Newell refers to as “testing the understanding by attempting to solve the problem” (p. 15). Newell implies that the interdisciplinarycomplexity connection is the sine qua non of interdisciplinary study and the outcome of the interdisciplinary process is the intellectual delight of integration. This article challenges the narrow understanding of interdisciplinary as primarily intellectual and seeks to describe the less appreciated power of interdisciplinary protocols to solve complex social problems.